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Posted by kez1230 on 31-Aug-2009 10:42 Report
Has anyone done catalogue distributors in letterbox ?
is it worth doing? and how much do you get paid?do you need a ABN number for this?
 
Replied by goldswan-lake on 31-Aug-2009 10:54 (Ref 1895529) Report
I looked into it a couple of years ago, and found that I would have been getting about $4 an hour for my time.  No thanks.
Replied by samboogem on 31-Aug-2009 11:28 (Ref 1895554) Report
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Replied by gumtree-kids on 31-Aug-2009 11:30 (Ref 1895556) Report
I did it last summer - you get paid per catalogue. Different areas have different amounts of houses in them, so you could get an area of around 500 homes or a small area of only 200 homes. Most catalogues are something like around 1c each, however small single page leaflets are less.
To give you an idea, this is a couple of examples of my contracts with salmat in SE QLD

#1
2 x supermarket catalogues for 240 homes
1 x council leaflet for 247 homes
2 x singlet leaflet for business or service in area for 240 homes
Contract amount $17.70
Amount of hours worked - 1.5 - 2 hours folding, 2 hours walking.
Paid $20 as my area manager doesn't believe we should be paid less than $20. So about $5 per hour plus the extra exercise you get.

#2
6 x supermarket/variety store catalogues for 240 homes
3 x leaflet style (2 to 4 pages) for 240 homes
1 x pink bag for clothing donations for 240 homes
Contract amount $35.00
Amount of hours worked - up to 3 hours folding, minimum 2 hours walking
Paid $35. So, up to $7 per hour depending on how quick you fold and how many catalogues you can carry at once. plus extra exercise.

I did it to earn some pocket money and get some exercise, but I quickly wore out the stroller and also had cranky hot kids to contend with.
You risk sunburn and dog bites. And you get sore shoulders from carrying bags if you don't have something to wheel them along in. The bags get heavy and the more catalogues you have in each run, the more trips back to the car you need to make, lengthening the time it takes you to drop them all.
And you also end up with a cluttered loungeroom whilst trying to sort, fold and stack catalogues. It takes time to do it right when you first start, but after a while, you get the hang of it and fold quicker.
Salmat do have standards they expect you to follow and sometimes a fellow walker lives in your area and they will let the manager know if you aren't doing the job right. They do drive arounds and expect to see a certain % of homes with catalogues sticking out of letterboxes, so you have to ring it in as soon as you finish.

I quit as it got too much with the heat and little kids, and often I was getting large drops delivered to me the night before they had to go out - meaning I was up all night folding.

EDIT: as sam said, you can earn decent money out of it if you have large areas and having a helper to fold means it goes quicker. You can take on more than one area if you feel you can cope with it. And sale time or seasonal events means more catalogues
Replied by samboogem on 31-Aug-2009 11:39 (Ref 1895562) Report
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Replied by bumblebeedora on 31-Aug-2009 11:39 (Ref 1895564) Report
the people here throw it  out the  car   window:(
Replied by samboogem on 31-Aug-2009 11:51 (Ref 1895572) Report
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Replied by toddlers-to-teens on 31-Aug-2009 12:55 (Ref 1895621) Report
It all depends where you live as well. If your area is high density residential, then you deliver to a lot of houses in a small area. Where I am, it is semi rural and each road might only have a few houses on it, and very spread apart.  The pay rate is a bit higher, but when you take into consideration time, petrol costs, and the committment required, it hardly seems worth it. It is great for teenagers though. Gives them a bit of spending money and  the responsibility of a job.
Replied by dogearedbooks on 31-Aug-2009 13:04 (Ref 1895626) Report
Hello

I agree with everything samboogem has said.  I have been doing 1000 houses, twice a week for almost 10 years.  Keeps you fit and you earn a bit of money at the same time - actually at certain times of the year you can earn quite a bit 

I find the worst time of the year is the middle of summer, but I start as soon as the sun comes up and miss the worst of the heat. 

There is no point in doing one catalogue per house though, to make any real money I sometimes have up to 12 - 15 catalogues per house, which makes them very heavy to carry.  Give it a go, start off small and work your way up as someone has already suggested. 

I enjoy it, but that doesn't mean someone else will.

Oh and by the way, it is illegal to throw them out the car window, they have to go into the letter box.  Also illegal to put them in a letter box that has 'no junk mail' on it.  You can get a $200 fine for littering.

Karyn
Replied by giftsnpieces on 31-Aug-2009 13:09 (Ref 1895631) Report
I did catalogue delivers for awhile and worked out I was getting paid about $5 an hour. Had a run of about 250 houses and it would take about 1 1/2 hours to deliver them all. Plus there was the time organising the catalogues and this could be time consuming depending on how many catalogues per letter box. I had at times 15 different catalogues to put in each mail box! Better days were the 6 or so as they are much easier to organise and much lighter! But of course the more catalogues the more $$ you make.
I found it good for exercise and to help get me out and about

Christina
Replied by gaiasdaughters on 31-Aug-2009 13:59 (Ref 1895677) Report
My daughter did deliveries for Salmat several years ago. Got discouraged as it took about 8 weeks for the first payment to go through. Then we found out the area manager wasn't putting in all the paperwork on time so she gave it up. Pay was minimal for the work done. IIRC she ended up loosing about two weeks worth of pay because of the paperwork non-lodgement.
Replied by jelvey on 31-Aug-2009 14:46 (Ref 1895706) Report
HiI used to be an area representative for Salmat, for over 9 years.  First I started delivering only, to one area then went to two, and then three areas,  then became the area rep as well.  Becoming an area rep, was harder, as you had to replace your deliverers, and some deliveries were not worth much, while other loads were worth more, depening on how many catalogues you had going per load.The trouble is,  they run delivery days over 2 days, usually, twice a week,  no matter on the weather, or no matter on how many pamplets.  You may only have 3 different types and this makes it a lower than standard wage.A lot of your work is done at home,  once you have your quota, its just a matter of folding them in, and bagging them, for easy carriage.  I enjoyed that fact, home with the kids,  coffee when i wanted,  and my kids used to enjoy helping as well, and this earnt them pocket money, which was, normally a bit hard to give.I think as far as exercise,  a satisfaction, that you are doing something constructive, is the main key.  But like any job, there are times,  the days come around too quick, and you are delivering yet again.One advantage to gain, if you can look into it,  is  another company called PMP, (if it still called that) delivers different catalogues, usually around same time frames as Salmat.  If you can also score the same delivery run, with them,  you get paid twice.Where I have delivered, and represented,  the deliverers always worked for the two companies at once.Also one last thing to watch,   try and hope that the area you are given, is not too scattered out,  and of course the more compact your area is,  the less you have to walk with a full load, at one time.Payment in my experience with either company is usually made the second week, you deliver, and after that, as long as the area rep is doing the paper work weekly, you should usually receive a weekly income.  We used ot average on the worst, around $60 a week,  going over $500 a week around easter and xmas etc.Hopefully this will be a little helpCheers
Replied by ublucky on 31-Aug-2009 17:09 (Ref 1895872) Report

It's pays very little for a lot of time wasting.

If you are given a large residential area, be prepared to be up for most of the night, sorting & folding.

If you decide to do it for a long time (years) condition your feet & mind, body as well for all the long hours of exhausting walks & health problems associated with the long hours a day from walking, stressful & tiring work.

The only winners are the the company that supply the pamphlets from the major department stores.

I was doing pamphlet deliveries for a year, I gave up, my health was more important than the pittance amount they give.
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